SHADOW MORTON is dead

George Francis "Shadow" Morton (1940-2013) was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s. In particular, he was noted for writing and producing "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Leader of the Pack", and other hits for girl group The Shangri-Las.

In 1967, his successes continued after the collapse of Red Bird when his production of Janis Ian's, "Society's Child", became a hit record. The same year, he discovered a group called the Pidgeons, who became Vanilla Fudge, and produced their first three albums, which included their hit containing "You Keep Me Hangin' On," followed by a foray into aural collage called The Beat Goes On. The experimentation was largely Morton's idea, resisted by the band, and poorly received by critics, though it reached #17 in the US Billboard Top 200 based on sales. In the 1970s, he worked with Iron Butterfly, and even though the group gave an interview to Mix Magazine crediting Morton with producing the hit track "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", that information is not widely known.
He also worked with The New York Dolls, producing their second album "Too Much Too Soon". Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders would later cover his composition "Great Big Kiss" on his 1979 solo album "So Alone".

Morton then disappeared from the music industry for several years, and was treated for alcoholism in the 1980s before attempting a comeback. He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006. In 2009, Morton appeared in the documentary, 'Rockin' the Wall', about music's part in bringing down the Iron Curtain.
He died on February 14, 2013 in Laguna, California, after a long battle with cancer. Source